Belle Chasse man arrested for attempted first degree murder

Jefferson Parish, La - Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Deputies arrested a man after he admitted to giving his son alcohol. Cesar Ruiz, 19, was taken into custody on October 28, 2012, and charged with one count of attempted first degree murder.

According to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department Spokesperson, detectives arrived at Ochsner Medical Center in Metairie to investigate a two-month-old child who had a blood alcohol content of .289. On October 16, the child was admitted to the Pediatric Unit with breathing difficulties. He was originally diagnosed with an un-named illness and was due to have surgery on October 31st. The child began having seizures on October 28th and was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Detectives interviewed both Erika Wigstrom, the child's mother, and Cesar Ruiz, the child's father. Wigstrom told detectives that her and Ruiz left the hospital went home to shower. She said that she noticed that a bottle of rum was missing from her home. Ruiz denied knowing what happened to the bottle of rum and did not know why his son's Blood Alcohol Content was being questioned.

After further questioning, Ruiz admitted to taking an empty feeding tube from his son's hospital room. He said that when he got home, he poured some of the rum into the tube and brought it back to the hospital. He waited for Wigstrom to leave the hospital room before pouring the alcohol into his son's feeding tube. Ruiz claimed that he did this in an effort to relieve his son's suffering, but not to kill him.

Ruiz was placed under arrest and transported to the Jefferson Parish Corrections Center.